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agent_kay's review
3.0
There were a handful of good stories in this collection but overall I have to say it was pretty lackluster. Also, it is riddled with spelling errors. The representation was just as good as the first 2 anthologies, featuring many different identities and ethnicities.
The stories I enjoyed most were Doublers, Reshadow, & Concerto.
The stories I enjoyed most were Doublers, Reshadow, & Concerto.
untimelysteph's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
moomints's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
alongreader's review
5.0
Short stories collections are always hit and miss, I find. It's hard to find a collection where all the stories suit any particular reader. For me, this was more miss than hit, though the hits are amazing.
As with a lot of short stories, many of these stop just as they seem to be getting going. One or two are so cluttered that nothing has space to make sense; The Undeniable Price of Everything, in my opinion, was too busy. A couple didn't explain why things were happening the way they were, like H O M E or Nobody Cares Who We Kiss At The End Of The World - which felt like a lot of setup just for one character to title drop. However, I adored Present: Tense and would happily read a whole novel set in that world, and Concerto surprised me by not going for the twist I was expecting.
Overall, I enjoyed the collection and I thought it was a good read. I recommend it to other readers as a great way to try a lot of authors quickly and see what suits you.
As with a lot of short stories, many of these stop just as they seem to be getting going. One or two are so cluttered that nothing has space to make sense; The Undeniable Price of Everything, in my opinion, was too busy. A couple didn't explain why things were happening the way they were, like H O M E or Nobody Cares Who We Kiss At The End Of The World - which felt like a lot of setup just for one character to title drop. However, I adored Present: Tense and would happily read a whole novel set in that world, and Concerto surprised me by not going for the twist I was expecting.
Overall, I enjoyed the collection and I thought it was a good read. I recommend it to other readers as a great way to try a lot of authors quickly and see what suits you.
justforqueerbooks's review
5.0
I very rarely read anthologies and come away thinking, “this was cohesively amazing”. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever read an anthology and said that. I think that’s a big reason why anthologies always get such mixed reviews: everyone likes and dislikes different stories and different things stick in people’s heads.
This anthology has taken over my head. It’s been almost a week since I finished it and I still keep thinking about characters and different worlds and. Keep wanting more more more of the stories. My absolute favorites, which I just thought were done SO, SO wonderfully well, were “Aesthetically Hungry”, “Renaissance”, “Reshadow”, “The Department of Homegoing Affairs”, “Present: Tense”, “Concerto” and “H O M E”.
Reading “Aesthetically Hungry”, as a trans person, just hurt worse than I thought it could. It was like someone had figured out how to pull the feelings of dysphoria out of my head and penned them onto paper. I was stopping, processing and rereading sections over and over and over again. And I was in pain because it hurts to see those thoughts on paper. If Sophisticate-X existed here, I don’t doubt that I’d make the same decision Wrench did.
“Renaissance” is one of my ultimate favorites from this entire collection. Hanna’s feelings, meeting Eleni, their emotional connection…everything was just so perfect. This was the first one that I read that dealt with climate change in a way that made me cry. Stargazing is a large part of this story and that’s what I used to do with my grandpa before he passed away. So, reading this, and hearing about those stars disappear, hurt. Overall, though, the emotions in this story really won me over. Hanna was up front about her feelings about everything and you could hear the amount of love she had for her family and eventually for Eleni. The ending definitely left me wanting more, but I felt that way about every short story.
“Reshadow” made me sob. That one short story, less than 30 pages, made me bawl my eyes out and it was all feelings and emotions. It was fantastic. The way Adam Sass started this story was so unassuming, quiet and I just did not expect the plot twist that it gave. Something a lot of books are doing lately is incorporating queer people that are older and that was what we see in this one, eventually, which I also loved. I just can’t say too much about this one without giving anything away but please know that it was my Top 3 in this anthology. And if you love escape rooms, you’ll love this.
As much as I could keep going, I’m only going to talk about two more, so this list will be my Top 5. And another one of my favorites was “Present: Tense.” You know we joke about half the world’s population disappearing: Marvel did it, TikTok makes jokes about it, but the way it was done in this book was brilliant. There’s no better word for it. I LOVED this story from start to finish and I truly hope to read more by Jim McCarthy going forward because if it’s anything like this, I won’t be able to look away.
Last, but certainly not least, and another one of my Top 3, “Concerto”. What can I say about this that will help you understand how it made me feel? Oh yeah, it WRECKED me. I sat there reading this, drowning in emotions because it had immigrant parents who were once refugees, parental trauma, losing the love of your life and casual homophobia from your parents. All of which hurts individually as it is, but put together, it will ruin you. This is me warning you. If you love music, the end of the world and trauma, this is going to be your favorite one. I just can’t sum up my feelings because it was so well done.
Overall, this entire collection was amazing. The concepts, the storytelling: all of it blended so well together to create this wonderfully concise and amazing set of stories and I can’t wait to see what Saundra Mitchell comes up with next!!
This anthology has taken over my head. It’s been almost a week since I finished it and I still keep thinking about characters and different worlds and. Keep wanting more more more of the stories. My absolute favorites, which I just thought were done SO, SO wonderfully well, were “Aesthetically Hungry”, “Renaissance”, “Reshadow”, “The Department of Homegoing Affairs”, “Present: Tense”, “Concerto” and “H O M E”.
Reading “Aesthetically Hungry”, as a trans person, just hurt worse than I thought it could. It was like someone had figured out how to pull the feelings of dysphoria out of my head and penned them onto paper. I was stopping, processing and rereading sections over and over and over again. And I was in pain because it hurts to see those thoughts on paper. If Sophisticate-X existed here, I don’t doubt that I’d make the same decision Wrench did.
“Renaissance” is one of my ultimate favorites from this entire collection. Hanna’s feelings, meeting Eleni, their emotional connection…everything was just so perfect. This was the first one that I read that dealt with climate change in a way that made me cry. Stargazing is a large part of this story and that’s what I used to do with my grandpa before he passed away. So, reading this, and hearing about those stars disappear, hurt. Overall, though, the emotions in this story really won me over. Hanna was up front about her feelings about everything and you could hear the amount of love she had for her family and eventually for Eleni. The ending definitely left me wanting more, but I felt that way about every short story.
“Reshadow” made me sob. That one short story, less than 30 pages, made me bawl my eyes out and it was all feelings and emotions. It was fantastic. The way Adam Sass started this story was so unassuming, quiet and I just did not expect the plot twist that it gave. Something a lot of books are doing lately is incorporating queer people that are older and that was what we see in this one, eventually, which I also loved. I just can’t say too much about this one without giving anything away but please know that it was my Top 3 in this anthology. And if you love escape rooms, you’ll love this.
As much as I could keep going, I’m only going to talk about two more, so this list will be my Top 5. And another one of my favorites was “Present: Tense.” You know we joke about half the world’s population disappearing: Marvel did it, TikTok makes jokes about it, but the way it was done in this book was brilliant. There’s no better word for it. I LOVED this story from start to finish and I truly hope to read more by Jim McCarthy going forward because if it’s anything like this, I won’t be able to look away.
Last, but certainly not least, and another one of my Top 3, “Concerto”. What can I say about this that will help you understand how it made me feel? Oh yeah, it WRECKED me. I sat there reading this, drowning in emotions because it had immigrant parents who were once refugees, parental trauma, losing the love of your life and casual homophobia from your parents. All of which hurts individually as it is, but put together, it will ruin you. This is me warning you. If you love music, the end of the world and trauma, this is going to be your favorite one. I just can’t sum up my feelings because it was so well done.
Overall, this entire collection was amazing. The concepts, the storytelling: all of it blended so well together to create this wonderfully concise and amazing set of stories and I can’t wait to see what Saundra Mitchell comes up with next!!
andreannechat's review
2.0
A good mix of stories. Some good, some alright. It took me a long time to go through it; I find it hard to get really into short stories.
jenniferlv84's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25